Family, Stolen
by SyaRaven
Summary: The BAU family camps out together on vacation. How will they survive when they are stolen in the middle of the night?
1. The Beginning

Times like these were hard to find, a week or two of uninterrupted vacation time and the team was doing their best to make sure that it was the perfect break from their daily lives. Strauss of course had wanted them to only take a few days off, and in shifts too so that someone would always be there if needed, but together Rossi and Hotch had convinced her that it was necessary for _all_ of them to have a full week and a half off from work. As a last ditch effort to prove that it was her in charge of the BAU and not Hotch or Rossi, she flat out refused to give Kevin the same time off, stating that he was technically in a different division, and with Garcia's absence, he would be needed. Will, however, was able to cash in some of his saved up vacation days, turning it into a full fledged family vacation.

The destination hardly mattered to any of them, except JJ and Reid. She wanted to go somewhere relaxing, without copious amounts of people, and therefore, nowhere that could be considered a tourist attraction. Reid wanted to go somewhere historical, or educational and all the ones he could come up with were bound to be full of visitors, to which JJ objected. Finally it was Emily who stepped in a found a suitable solution, camping out in a national forest where there were nice beaches, cliffs, and plenty of nature for Spencer to study.

Each member of the team was an expert at packing, so even though they were planning on being gone for over a week in the wilderness, it hardly took them any time to pack. Hotch and JJ took a bit longer, having to pack supplies and clothes for more than just themselves, but within a few hours everyone was ready to go. Rossi had stepped up to rent the van that would take them to the national forest, as well as the miscellaneous supplies that none of them had already owned.

"Hey JJ, how are you feeling about setting up in the woods for a week?" asked Emily quietly, watching the men trying to stuff their backpacks into the back of the van. JJ gave her a wary look, trying to determine if Emily was going to make a big deal of her fear.

"I'm fine with it. It's a childhood fear, Em, it doesn't really affect me anymore." She laughed at her husband's attempts to corral their excited three year old son before continuing, "Besides, I think the majority of my time is going to be spent trying to keep Henry under control. He's never been camping before."

"Alright," answered Emily as she squeezed JJ's shoulder gently, "But I'll be keeping an eye on you come night time, and the scary campfire stories." JJ just chuckled lightly before wandering off to join her husband in the mission of capturing Henry. Reid and Morgan were talking about all the different ways they would try to find food to spice up their diet on this trip, while Rossi and the driver were finally arranging the last of the packs in the van. Getting everyone in the car took longer than anticipated, due to the fact that Jack had wandered off to climb a tree and didn't hear them calling to him. After a stern talking to from his father, the last two members of the group climbed into the van and they set off on what was to be a glorious family vacation.

Setting up camp wasn't difficult in the slightest, as long as the girls, kids, and Reid stayed out of the way. Hotch, Rossi and Morgan had all spent a considerable amount of the childhoods camping, and were experts in getting the tents ready. Will, while not an expert, was good at following the others' directions, unlike Reid who too often got his own ideas about how best to get the stakes to stick in the ground. After the tent fell down on him and Morgan for the third time he was banished to the lake with the girls. There was no shortage of things to do to keep themselves occupied. Firewood needed to be collected daily, and Reid proved to be an excellent forager, finding a plethora of nuts and berries to spice up their food. Henry and Jack loved climbing trees, swimming, and anything else that the adults could find for them to do. For two days their lives seemed to be perfect. They were all having a good time, sitting around the fire at night together, telling scary stories, or anecdotes from their childhoods. They were growing closer together, if that was even possible. The boys were loving the fact that they had their parent's full attention for a full week and half. The three parents, while wishing every morning that their sons didn't feel the need to get up with the sunrise, were basking in the fact that at any point they could run over and hug their children, play with them whenever they wanted, and no phone calls would ever draw them away from the joyous kids.

That second night, after the fire had been doused and the last of their group had finally retired to bed, 15 armed men snuck into their camp, treading carefully until they were all in position.

Together they raised their guns, and fired, tearing apart the happy world that the BAU family had created for themselves.

* * *

**New idea that popped into my head. Thoughts?**

**Sya  
**


	2. Derek

Derek struggled to open his eyes, fighting the soreness he felt. When that failed, he relied on his other senses to tell him where he was: he could feel the scratchy rope against his wrists, and the stiffness of the chair he was tied to. He could smell the dampness that surrounded him, and he could hear the whimpers of another person. Cautiously, he twisted him arms around, trying to find any looseness in the ropes that bound him. Finding none, he reverted to his old goal, trying to open his eyes.

After a long fight, he succeeded in squinting open his eyes, instantly regretting his decision. The pain that had been held at bay while he'd been trying to dissect his surroundings came at him full force as he saw the cuts and bruises on his body. His shirt was covered in various splotches of blood, his legs felt as though they were made of lead, a very painful kind of lead that burned any time he tried to move them. But worst of all was what he saw beyond himself.

He was indeed tied to a chair, in a dark, damp basement, there were no windows and he could barely see anything by the small light hanging from the ceiling. Beyond a few feet there was only darkness and shadows. Only one other thing was distinguishable in the gloom of the room, the source of the whimpers, the reason Derek regretted opening his eyes.

Emily was handcuffed, beaten and bloody, to a radiator, each wrist held by a separate pair of handcuffs, she couldn't move if she tried. He could see that she, too, was barely conscious, probably not even aware of the pitiful noises coming out of her. Derek couldn't see exactly what was wrong with her, except that she seemed to have more bruises and cuts on her than even he did, and her face looked a million times worse than his felt.

Slowly, he began to remember what had happened, the terrible night that had resulted in their current predicament.

* * *

The gunfire had ripped them all from their sleep, he and Reid were out of their tent in a matter of seconds, hands reaching towards their hips where their guns didn't rest. The fire had burned out but their attackers, and a few of their group had flashlights, leaving the scene before them difficult, but not impossible to see. The screams of the boys drew Derek's attention, he saw Jack and Henry being pulled away, down the path and out of sight by one man, as JJ threw punches left and right, fighting to get to her son. Desperate, he ran towards her, trying to help, but was thrown off course when another man tackled him. Together they rolled in the dirt, wrestling for control over one another. After he got in a good knee to the groin, Derek hoisted himself off his attacker, looking around himself once more.

JJ was still fighting, this time against two men that were holding her back, hitting her repeatedly in the stomach to stop her from running after Henry.

Hotch was attempting to tear a gun away from another man, but crumpled when his assailant swung the gun and hit him across the jaw. For good measure he stood over the fallen FBI agent, holding his gun to Hotch's head in case he regained consciousness.

Reid was already subdued, he showed a good many cuts on his face, but his two attackers bore many fingernail scratches on theirs and one was limping, evidence of how hard he'd fought them.

Rossi was trying to move stealthily along the sides of the tents, how he'd stayed out of sight until then was a mystery. But he miss-stepped as he got into position behind one of the men and he lost the element of surprise. Another bloody fight ensued, and Rossi almost won, until another assailant came up to join the battle. It was only a matter of minutes before he was handcuffed and knocked unconscious, joining the growing number of restrained agents.

Garcia was giving her assaulter a run for his money, literally. She was jumping over other people, dodging around tents and doing anything she could to stay out of his grasp. But there seemed to be an unlimited number of men in the woods, all with nefarious intents and Derek watched as she too was beaten until she had no energy left.

Dumbfounded by all that he saw around him, he numbly fought off any men that came near him. Distracted, he failed to remember that his first attacker was on the ground next to him, and was surprised when he felt hands on his legs, tripping him. Derek found himself in the group of tied up agents, and as one of the only conscious ones, he struggled to free himself, watching the carnage around him that he couldn't stop.

JJ was losing her battle, but she was still going strong, fighting with everything that she had.

Will, too, was taking on more men than he could handle, throwing whatever punches, kicks, and rolls that he could.

Emily was the only one that Derek couldn't see, but now that he was looking for her it didn't take too long to locate her. In a tree. Directly above JJ and the men attacking her. In that split second, Rossi's miss step made sense. The only reason a seasoned FBI agent like him would screw up when approaching an unsub, was if he did it on purpose. He must have known that Emily was in the tree right above him, and done what was needed to distract the men from her presence. It seemed that Derek wasn't the only who had noticed her absence, some of the men were starting to poke around for her. In a flash, he pushed himself onto his feet and hobbled forward, drawing their attention.

As the ran towards him, Emily dropped down from the tree branch, landing on one of JJ's attackers. Together, the two of them were making good headway on the men, disarming them and even knocking one out. Derek saw the guns raise, watched as the attackers aimed at him, and heard a shot ring out.

Will crumpled to the ground, blood streaming down his face. JJ collapsed at the sight of her husband falling down dead. Emily, too, was distracted from the fight as she saw him fall. In just a few seconds their night had gone from terrible, to horrendous. The two women were tied up, joining their coworkers on the ground. The last thing that Derek could remember was the fist coming at him.

* * *

"Where- where are we?" The quiet groan of a question drew him out of his memories. Emily's eyes were open, and he could see the fire in them.

"I, uh, I don't know..." he trailed off, leaving them both in silence in the dark, damp basement.

* * *

**Un-beta'd so all mistakes are mine. Reviews make me happy! And they earn you invisible chocolate chip cookies!**

**Sya  
**


	3. Struggles

It wasn't long before two of the men entered the dismal room and untied Hotch, forcing him on his feet and out the door. The next room was much larger than the one he had woken up in, and it had three couches spread out around the perimeter. It seemed as though all of their captors were in the room, lounging around, leering at him. He was proud to see that not one of them came away from the previous night without some kind of injury, his team had fought well. The men leading him checked his bonds before shoving him onto the ground in the middle of the room.

From a tactical point, the room made sense, from any point along the perimeter the men could see various doors, which he assumed led to his teammates, as well as the middle of the room, where he was currently seated. There would be no chance to escape, not with 15 men surrounding him, and no way to know which door led to the outside worlds. Subtly, he checked his bonds, but they were secure, he couldn't get his hands free.

He looked around, not bothering to hide his actions. Their captors no doubt knew who they were, and they couldn't expect him to sit their quietly, without trying to find a way out. What he saw disheartened him: there were no windows without bars, every man was armed, and there was a table full of computer equipment. There were no signs that this group was haphazard, that they would be anything less than professional. That meant chances of provoking them or turning them against each other were slim. None of it meant that their chances of survival or escape were high.

Two of the men whispered to each other, and sent a third off through one of the doors. A few seconds later and he emerged with a bloody Emily, yanking her forward by the two pairs of handcuffs on her wrists. She growled and yanked back, startling the man, who reacted by punching her twice in the stomach, neither one a soft hit. Groaning, she sunk to the floor next to him.

"Tsk, tsk. And I was going to let you keep your hands free for a while, your friend will need some comforting." Said the man, reaching over and locking the free sides of the handcuffs together, leaving Emily a little room to move her hands, but not much.

"Hey, Hotch. How bad are you?" whispered Emily as soon as they were left alone.

"Not terrible. You look worse. Nothing of mine is broken, have you seen the others? How bad are you?" he said, looking at her closely for signs that she was lying.

"I think I broke a rib, but other than that its just cuts and bruises, nothing new to us. Derek was in the room with me, but no one else." she said sincerely. There was a brief pause as she surveyed the room just as Hotch had done moments before. "Shit. This doesn't look good."

Hotch started to agree, but was interrupted by another door opening. This time it was JJ who emerged, looking worse than either of them imagined. She had bruises blossoming all over her face, her blond hair was a mess, and she has several long gashes on her torso, bleeding through her shirt. Tear tracks shown on her face, evidence of how upset she was. Her hands were unbound, but she didn't look as though she had the energy to do anything other than walk forward as she was commanded, much less try to stage an escape with two restrained coworkers against 15 armed men.

"Hey Jayje." Emily pulled her down next to her. She lifted her arms around JJ, grateful that her captor had at least left her some room to move so that she could comfort her friend. The blonde sniffled, and lowered her head gently onto Emily's shoulder, grateful to have her friend. The three of them sat in silence, waiting for the next thing to happen. Emily stroked JJ's hair gently, whispering calming things into her ear.

Derek was the next to be brought out, and he was left bound as well. He sat down next to Hotch, closer than he usually would. They all needed comfort during this, the normal lines of work and family were obscured.

"The girls look bad. They were beaten worse than either of us, and JJ. . . She lost Will, man."

"I know, I wish there was something we could do for her." answered Hotch, never taking his eyes of the injured women next to him. "They hurt them worse because they want to break us, hurt the weakest of us and they hurt our spirit more."

"I'm going to hate seeing Reid then." replied Derek, letting them fall into an uneasy silence. The girls had heard, and JJ was trying her best to stop the tears from falling.

"JJ, its okay to cry. No one is going to think any less of you. I love you." said Emily quietly, trying not to let anyone overhear.

"I just want Henry." she swallowed thickly. "And Will."

"I know, I'm so sorry." Emily took a deep breath before continuing. "Can I see the cuts please? I need to see how bad they are." Slowly, haltingly, JJ withdrew from her friend's embrace, drawing the attention of her other friends. Avoiding looking into their eyes, she lifted her shirt, stopping just below her bra, exposing the three long gashes on her abdomen.

"God, JJ. . ." The words flew out of Derek's mouth before he could stop them, and JJ felt the tears coursing down her face again. Hastily she tried to lower her shirt again, but Emily stopped her. She leaned forwards, lightly touching the red skin around the cuts.

"They look pretty shallow, sweetie. You aren't going to bleed out from them, but we should try to cover them up a bit, keep out infection and stop the bleeding." The other two were nodding along with him, while JJ was still avoiding their eyes. Because she was the only one that could, Emily helped JJ take off her sweater, moving slowly so as not to aggravate any of her wounds. Together, they tied the garment as tightly around her waist as they could. None of them noticed Rossi's appearance next to them, to enthralled in helping JJ.

"How bad is she?" he inquired quietly to Derek.

"Bad. Three long cuts on her abdomen, but they aren't deep. Losing Will, though. . ." Derek trailed off for a minute, letting them each reflect on the man that they lad lost. "Emily, Hotch says she has a broken rib. She's been fighting the most, I think, and it shows. They'll beat the women more, to break us. Probably Reid too. . ."

"No. Reid's okay. Not really, but no worse than he was when we got here, from the fight last night. They've left us alone till now. He was in the room with me." Hearing that, Derek heaved a huge sigh of relief, and another one when he looked up and saw a relatively okay Spencer coming out of one of the rooms. Like everyone except JJ, he was bound, and found it difficult to maneuver around the small circle of people in the middle of the room. Rossi moved over so that he could sit next to Derek, and Spencer shot him a grateful look. Garcia was the last to exit her solitary room and join the six of them on the floor. She looked worse for wear then the men around her, but better than either JJ or Emily. As she claimed the spot on the other side of Derek, she asked him about the others, how they were all faring.

"We're all okay. Except JJ, of course. She and Emily are hurt the worse, but nothing life threatening. We're all in a world of pain, baby girl, but we'll be okay." She smiled at him, thankful that through all this he was still Derek Morgan, the man who could always make her smile.

"Reid, man, how you doing?" asked Derek after he got situated with Garcia leaning on him.

"Flashbacks aren't uncommon when presented with similar stimuli. I just wasn't expecting them." was the answer, causing Derek to tear his eyes away from JJ, and stare at the man next to him.

"Reid – Spencer, you're going be alright. I'll fight 'em off if they even try to come close with any kind of drugs, okay kid?" The hollowness he could see in Spencer's eyes when he looked at him scared Derek as much as the slices on JJ's stomach and the broken rib on Emily did.

"Now that you're all here we'll get down to business." Spoke one of their abductors, drawing them out of their little world. "We're keeping you here until we get the ransom. We know who you are, we know what you do, and we know that the government you work for won't allow you to rot away down here forever. We don't want to kill any of you, since that will lower the ransom, but we won't hesitate if needed. Understand?"

As each of the team members in turn nodded their head, Hotch shouted out.

"Wait!" Before he could say anything else, JJ interrupted.

"Where are the boys!"

* * *

**All mistakes are mine. Reviews make me write faster!  
**

**Sya  
**


	4. Pain

Laughter rung throughout the room, startling the seven prisioners.

"The boys? JJ, don't you worry about them. They're in a good place." Upon hearing those words both JJ and Hotch broke down, not caring about anything other than the fact that their children were. . . gone.

"I suppose we'll do a show and tell, huh boys?" said the man, staring gleefully down at the two weeping members, and noticing the tears on everyone's faces. None of the prisoners heard them properly, they were too busy thinking of the two young children. They did notice, however, when they heard the clattering of small feet on the stairs. The last door opened, revealing Jack pulling Henry forward by his hand. The effect on the room was immediate: JJ sprang to her feet, wincing as she pulled her injuries, springing forward to gather both Jack and her son in a tight embrace.

"Oh, darlings, I was so worried." she sobbed, squeezing them to the point where they could barely breathe. Once she let go, Jack stepped forward to hug his father, unsure of how best to do it with Hotch's hands tied behind his back.

"Dad? What's going to happen?" He asked quietly. "I've been keeping an eye on Henry, they're been letting us watch TV upstairs. But its nighttime, Daddy."

"Jack, listen to me, we're in a lot of trouble. I need you to listen very carefully and do exactly as I tell you, okay? Can you do that?" He could see the fear in his son's eyes. Henry might be too young to understand what all the blood and bruises on the adults meant, but Jack certainly understood.

"Yeah, Dad."

"You do whatever they tell you, but no matter what do _not_ leave Henry. Keep an eye on him, and stay out of trouble okay? If you see a way to escape, take it. But only if you're absolutely sure that you won't be caught, and take Henry with you. Okay, Jack?" There was no response from his son, Jack simply leaned forward into his father and kissed him on the cheek. As one of the men stepped forward to take him away again, he shouted one last thing to his father.

"I promise, Dad, I promise!" Before he was taken up the stairs again, shouting for Henry. The three year old in question was sitting in his mother's lap.

"Mommy, where Daddy?" He asked quietly, guessing that this was a time to be quiet.

"Daddy's gone, baby. He had to go to heaven." answered JJ, holding her son as close to her as humanly possible, ignoring the pain in her abdomen.

"When he coming back?" Asked Henry innocently. Tears filled his eyes as his mother explained that he wouldn't ever be coming back. She rocked him back and forth, trying to give him a little bit of comfort. When the men stepped forward to take him away, she clutched Henry closer to her chest.

"Please, just give us some time, let me keep him." she begged, sobbing as she held her son to her.

"Trust me, little lady, you don't want him here." With that he was torn away from her, kicking and screaming and brought back up the stairs, presumably to watch TV with Jack. JJ fell into herself, sobbing as she lost her son again. Emily reached over to wrap her arms around JJ once again, trying to give her an ounce of comfort in their horrible situation. None of the team could find any words to say, there was no way to convey their sympathy so instead they sat in silence, leaning up against each other.

"Are we going to make it through this?" Whispered JJ, laying her head down on Emily's shoulder, searching for some kind of contact. Before anyone could answer the man who appeared to be in charge came forward and ripped Emily's arms away from JJ, forcing her to stand up and march away from the group. Hotch, Emily and Derek lurched to their feet, preparing to fight for their friend if need be.

"Let her sit back down, man, we're all listening to you." pleaded Derek, not wanting to know what they had in store for his blonde partner.

"Please, she's already lost so much, just let her stay." begged Emily as she took a few unsteady steps towards the man and JJ. Hotch stood silently, waiting with the others for what would happen next.

"From now on, you don't get her, and she doesn't get you." Even as he spoke, Emily and Derek were inching closer to him, trying to get close enough to pull JJ to them. "Anything you do wrong, I take out on her, understand?" His words caused them all to freeze, not knowing what might set him off and make him hurt JJ.

"I'd sit down if I were you." he said to the three standing adults, and they followed his directions, falling back onto the floor in defeat. "And now to take care of your earlier indiscretions. . ."

The first punch killed them all, each of them flinching as the sweater fell off of JJ's stomach, exposing her cuts and showing them all the new blood falling from them. The second punch knocked her to the ground, curling up into a ball to protect herself. The first kick made it hard for her to take a breath. The second kick made her gasp out in pain. Feeling unsatisfied with her responses, the man in charge had two other men hoist her up and hold her arms behind her back. When he punched her jaw she gasped louder as the blood trickled down from her lips. One more punch to the abdomen had her screaming out in pain. They dragged her away, locking her out of their sight in one of the rooms.

"Don't worry, if she screams again, you'll hear it." cackled the man before he walked away, leaving the six remaining captives looking deathly pale in the middle of the room.

"At least the children are okay?" They all turned to look at Garcia in surprise.

"How can you even say that after what they just did to JJ?" gasped out Reid, staring at her as though he had never seen her before in his life. He felt bad for his anger when she started to cry. Derek leaned against her, trying to remind her that he still loved her.

"Baby Girl, it's okay. I know its tough. JJ is a strong woman, and she'll make it through this. We just have to do everything that we can to make sure that they don't hurt her anymore. Henry needs her, and so do we." he said, speaking to all of them at the end. "And you're right, at least the boys are okay and we don't have to worry about them."

"These men are professionals, they won't be easy to trick or persuade. It's most likely that them men in charge of this operation have no issues with them using force against us, but, like most people, abhor it when violence is used against children. So in all likelihood -"

"Reid. Stop." interrupted their boss.

"They won't hurt the boys at all. . ." finished Spencer, unable to keep his mouth shut due to the stress of the situation. Seeing that Derek was occupied with Garcia, Spencer turned to his other friend, Emily. "Does it make me a bad person that I'm glad it's not me being beaten? I don't think I'd be able to handle it, but I think that she can."

"No, Spencer, it doesn't make you a bad person. We're all really stressed here, but you're right. If it were you being beaten right now, we'd all be a lot more worried. What Derek said is the truth, JJ is strong and hopefully she can make it through this." The brunette answered quietly, staring into Spencer's eyes and hoping that he could see the truth and compassion in her words.

"Thanks. . ." he said, leaning up against her in a way that mirrored what JJ had been doing minutes before.

They spent the rest of the day sitting in that circle, sometimes switching places to have something to do, and someone new to talk to. Garcia never left Derek's side, and Emily never stopped trying to pick the locks on her handcuffs. Rossi and Hotch devised plan after plan to escape, and threw out plan after plan. Spencer did his best to compartmentalize his mind like Emily did, trying to disassociate himself from memories of his previous kidnapping. None of them ever stopped thinking about JJ, whose screams they could hear if they didn't react fast enough to their commands, or simply if the men decided she'd been quiet for too long.

* * *

**All mistakes are mine. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and/or favorited/followed this story, it means a lot to me. PS- I don't own any of this. Please review!**

**Sya  
**


	5. Comfort

That night they six of them were brought back into one of the rooms, the one Derek and Emily had been in previously, and given crackers and soup for dinner.

"Damn, there's nothing useful in here." lamented Derek as he got a better look at the room they were in.

"Unless you count the chair, that could do some damage." replied Emily, gesturing at the chair that none of them were sitting in because streaks of Derek's blood were apparent.

"How is a chair going to help us up against 15 armed men?" Reid spoke with sarcasm lacing his voice, causing them all to stare at him incredulously, all except Emily.

"Spencer, calm down. We'll think of something, and we just have to survive until the money comes through, then we'll be out of here." she responded in a soft voice, trying to assuage the worries of the younger agent.

"And if they don't pay? We have to listen to JJ scream until she's dead?" Garcia burst into tears at his comments, lowering her face into her hands as she thought about the ramifications of their situation.

"Spencer. Stop, man. They'll pay. And we're going to figure out a way to help JJ." said Derek, trying to find a way to comfort Garcia as he spoke. "We need to stick together in this. We can't let them tear us apart. We have to be strong. For JJ, Jack and Henry."

Hotch stood up at the sound of his son's name and began to pace the room, a task that wasn't as easy as usual due to the fact that his hands were still tied behind his back. He thought about what kind of things his son might be doing upstairs with Henry, and hoping, no praying to god that Jack would make it though all this okay.

"Hotch, he's going to be okay." said Rossi, who had gotten up to join him in his wild pacing. Together they walked the perimeter of the small room over and over again, memorizing its layout. Like their earlier assumption, there wasn't anything in the room except for the chair, the light and the radiator. The walls were bare and unfinished, wherever they were, it wasn't a fancy place. The door squeaked open when they were on the far wall. Everyone froze, watching one of the men enter slowly, checking the room with his gun. When none of them attacked, he stood tall in the doorway, moving his gun around the circle, and the two men in the back, as though choosing a victim.

"You there. Come here." he ordered, with his gun pointed directly at Emily's head. Cautiously, the agent in question stood, meandering slowly over to her captor, trying to buy some time.

"What do you want me for?"

"Boss has decided to play nice for a while." His mouth closed tight after he spoke, making it clear that they had just received the only explanation he would give. Sighing, Emily stood in front of him, bracing herself for whatever came next. He forced her out of the room, across the main room, and into the small room that held her blond friend.

"JJ!" she exclaimed, running over to her injured companion. It broke her heart when she saw that JJ could barely force her eyes open, both of them were black. She was sure that underneath her purple blouse were hidden tens of bruises, and probably some broken bones.

"You stay in here tonight, keep each other company. If you're lucky, you might get to see your son tonight." The man stepped forward to unlock the joined halves of Emily's handcuffs, and wanting to be allowed to stay with JJ, Emily didn't try to injure him at all, something she normally wouldn't think twice about doing. She wanted to remain who she was, and she was a fighter, but she cared about JJ more. He left them alone in the room, locking the door as he went, something that Emily realized belatedly was a first. They had never been locked in before, simply tied up.

"Hey sweetie, how are you?" She asked, reaching over to raise JJ's blouse, looking at the damage.

"I'll be okay. Nothing too bad. Bruised ribs, the cuts are open again. A lot of bruises. I just want Henry." answered the other agent, wincing as the cold air hit her exposed abdomen. "Please, Emily, don't leave me."

"I'm not going anywhere, Jayje, I promise." Emily untied the sweater that was around her waist, "Here, put this on, I grabbed it when it fell off of you. It'll keep you warm."

"How are we going to get out of this? I don't know how much more of this I can take." JJ whimpered as she tried to get comfortable, any movement jarred one of her injuries.

"JJ you are one of the strongest people I know, you can make it through this. The money will come, and we _will_ get out of here, trust me." The brunette lay down on the unforgiving floor, gesturing for JJ to lay her head down on her stomach. When the other woman obliged, Emily began to stroke her hair.

"I do trust you, Em, but you're wrong."

"Wrong about what?" she asked quietly, never ceasing her fingers in JJ's hair.

"I'm not strong. Not at all. . ." Tears began to fall down her face for the umpteenth time in the past 24 hours.

"Yes you are JJ, you are incredibly strong."

"I can't get him out of my head." admitted JJ through her tears, choking on the words as they left her.

"Who?"

"Will."

"Oh, god, honey. I am so sorry. I wish that there was something I could have done." sighed Emily, feeling her friend's pain. She had lost a lot of people in her life, but not all of them had died. And very few died in front of her.

"We were getting a divorce. It wasn't working. . . But I never wanted him dead. I wanted Henry to have his father." JJ turned onto her side, ignoring the pain that flared up inside her so that she could bury her face into Emily's shirt, anything to mask the tears that were coursing down her cheeks.

"JJ, it's okay. You could never wish death upon him, I know. It's not your fault. No matter what was going on with the two of you, you aren't to blame for how you feel, okay?" The only response that she got was sniffles. "Henry will always know of his father as a brave man, never anything less."

"I want my son, Em, why won't they let him stay with me?"

"I think it's for the best that he wasn't with you when they did this to you. We don't think that they'll do anything to hurt the boys." She could tell that JJ's tears had subsided. "Whoever is in charge here doesn't want to hurt the boys, and seeing his mommy hurt so bad would probably hurt Henry. They made sure the boys were taken first, so that they wouldn't see the violence of last night."

"But, I need to hold him. I need my son."

"We'll get him back, I promise."

"Okay." The two of them lay in silence, Emily never stroking JJ's hair unwaveringly, and JJ clenching her hands into fists in Emily's shirt. They didn't know how much time had passed before the door opened once again. It was a different man from before, and he seemed to be lumbering around. The light in this room was worse than the one where Emily had been previously was, and they couldn't tell what was wrong with him. All of the sudden, JJ felt an extra weight on her, a weight that reminded her very much of her son.

"Only for the night. Boss doesn't want him seeing you all hurt for long." he said gruffly before taking his exit. JJ didn't care how long it was for, she had her son back. Gently she and Emily maneuvered themselves and Henry so that they were leaning up against the wall, with the blond boy snuggled in between them. He was sound asleep, and was leaning his head against his mother, and the lower half of his body against Emily.

It took a long time, but eventually the two adults joined the young boy in slumber. The five agents in the other room worked themselves into a pile as well, the basement had no heating and everyone was chilly. Together the kidnapped family fell into a disturbed sleep, trying to get as much rest as they could before they had to face the new day. In captivity.

* * *

**Thank you immensly to those of you who have been following, favorting, and reviewing this. I'm glad that you like it. **

**Sya  
**


	6. Continuing

When morning dawned, it found the kidnapped agents sitting once again in a circle in the main room. Henry had been taken away from JJ and Emily before the sun had come up, before he could see the pain his mother and friend were in. Breakfast consisted of cold eggs and toast, with a glass of water for each of them. Garcia looked at her food as though it were a chocolate fountain, while the rest of them simply forced it down their throats, unsure of how much food they would be given.

"JJ-" started Derek, the words sticking in his throat.

"Don't." JJ inserted quickly before he could continue. "Don't tell me how sorry you are, or how you wish you could take my place. What's done is done. Let's just focus on staying sane and moderately healthy for when we get out of here."

"We love you, sunshine, no matter what. Please, remember that." spoke Garcia after she finished her measly breakfast. Her words brought tears once more to JJ's eyes, she cursed herself silently, not wanting to be caught crying in front of her team again.

"Did you get Henry last night?" inquired Hotch quietly. "I got Jack."

"Yeah, they brought him in after he was asleep, and took him away before he woke up fully, so that he wouldn't see what a bad shape I'm in." she answered equally as quietly. Reid noticed that since the moment that they had been taken no one had spoken in a loud voice, everything they said to one another was whispered as silently as it could be. Whether that was due to the fact that they didn't want their captors to hear what they were saying and use it against them, due to their fear, or simply due to the fact that all of them were exhausted and dealing with a lot of pain, he didn't know.

"Guys, we gotta come up with a strategy, something to keep us sane." said Garcia. She looked into the eyes of everyone in the circle in turn, making sure that they were paying attention to her. "Otherwise when we leave this place we're all going to be like puddles of goo on the inside and we'll be all broken and since the people we turn to are all here there won't be anyone to help up become all solid again and -"  
"Sweetness, calm down a bit. We'll think of something. No one is going to turn into. . . goo." Soothed Derek. "We'll just. . ."

"I know!" exclaimed Spencer after a pregnant pause. "We'll each describe somewhere other than here we wish we could be!"

"Spence, that isn't going to work. We all have eyes, and we can see that we're stuck in this dump." JJ didn't notice that her words caused the glint to leave her friend's eyes, but Emily did.

"Actually, Jayje, I think its a good idea. Sitting here and dwelling on the fact that we're stuck here isn't going to do anyone any good. I think Spencer's idea might be a good thing."

"Why don't we give it a shot." Even in the dark, damp basement, Hotch's tone of authority could still get his team to do as he ordered. After he spoke there was no further argument.

"Remember the last time that Reid was kidnapped?" Emily whispered into JJ's ears, trying to keep their conversation from other ears.

"Of course I remember! I let him get taken, I could never forget that!" hissed the blonde in return.

"Then imagine how much worse this is for him. The two of you are the two I'm really worried about down here. And Garcia, I have no idea how she's holding up, but she's got Derek." Emily continued to speak quietly into JJ's ear, as Garcia had started an extravagant story of how she imagined all of them laying out on the beach on vacation. "And you have me. But Spencer? All he's got are Hotch and Rossi, and I don't think either of them is really up for comforting and helping right now. Hotch is going through child-withdrawal as well, and Rossi, well he's just Rossi."

"I'm sorry, Emily. I'm just tired, sore, I miss my son, and I'm in so much pain. I shouldn't have snapped at him." The two women remained silent, tuning in to the end of Garcia's story, which involved each of them finding a hot stud, or a hot mama to go home with for the night. Her imagination drew chuckles from the others, glad to have something other than the depressing situation to dwell on.

"Alright, it was your idea, its your turn, Pretty Boy." Announced Derek after she'd finished.

"I imagine us back in the forest, having a wonderful time as a family. Jack is climbing a tree, and Henry is trying to follow but he's too small. I'm out getting berries, and JJ is with me, keeping an eye on the kids. Hotch is getting the fire started for dinner, and Derek, you and Emily are sparring near the lake with Garcia reading a book nearby. When Rossi comes to get the two of you, Emily decides she's not done having her fun and she pushes you in the water. You, of course, can't handle being defeated, so when she offers you her hand you pull her in. Rossi sighs and walks away, telling JJ and I, and the boys what you're doing and before we know it Henry has run off to join you, with Jack right behind him. The three of us try to chase you down before you end up in the lake, but we're too late. JJ loses her footing and falls in as well, and all of you in the lake gang up on me and Rossi, forcing us in as well. Garcia has been watching this all with glee, until Hotch comes looking for us and decides that not only he, but she as well, need to get in on the fun and he pushes her in when she's not expecting it. Soon all of us are swimming around and having a great time. Dinner can wait, because we're on vacation, together, in the middle of the woods." No one had spoken while Reid was telling his story, each of them getting lost in the woods and the lake. After he was done they remained silent, contemplating what he'd told them. Suddenly, no one cared that it was childlike to sit and imagine you were somewhere else when you were really being held hostage, no, suddenly it was helpful.

"Wow, Spencer. That – that helped. Thank you." inserted Emily after a long pause. No one really wanted to follow that with their own story, so they simply sat for a while, each of them lost in the land of the forest and lakes, imagining what their vacation might have been like.

* * *

Upstairs, Jack was just waking up, getting used to the odd way the sun hit his face. It wasn't like his room at home, or like he was inside the tent that he and his dad had for the camping trip. When he opened his eyes and saw the small room he was in, the tiny bed that he was sharing with Henry, he realized that it hadn't been a dream, they really were kidnapped. He was old enough to know that these are the kind of people that his dad, and all his aunts and uncles worked to put in jail.

"Mommy. . . mommy." whimpered Henry, stealing Jack's focus away.

"Henry, c'mon, Henry wake up." he said as he shook the younger boy gently. With a start, Henry sat up in bed, looking around him wildly.

"Bad dream, Jack." he said, causing the older boy to gather him up in his arms, just like his dad did when he had a bad dream.

"I don't think it was a dream, Henry. We're not in the woods anymore. The bad men have us and my dad and your mommy and everyone else. They're downstairs, remember?" He didn't get much further as Henry seemed to remember exactly what had happened and started sobbing. Jack did his best to comfort him the way that he, himself, liked to be comforted when something bad was happening or he was hurt. He pulled Henry closer to himself and started rubbing his back, trying to calm him down.

"Its okay, maybe today they'll let us see our parents just like yesterday. And we get to watch tv, and color, and they'll make us mac 'n' cheese for lunch again 'cause its your favorite."

"Really?" asked Henry, looking up at Jack with tear-filled eyes.

"I think so. We'll ask when they come get us out of this room." he replied.

"I miss Mommy. . ."

"I know, buddy. I miss her too. I miss my Daddy, too. And Aunt Penny, and Uncle Derek, and Uncle Spencer -"  
"And Aunt Em'ly?" asked Henry, his voice was muffled as he'd pressed his face into Jack's shirt once more.

"Yeah, her too. And Uncle Will and Uncle Rossi. I miss them all."

"Me too." The two of them sat curled up on the bed together, thinking of their family downstairs, until one of the men came to get them for breakfast.

* * *

**I just got photoshop, and a big project to work on, so I'm going to be wrapping this up in the next couple of chapters. **  
**Thank you to everyone who has been reading this story!  
**

**Sya  
**


	7. Strength

Their second day as hostages passed much the same as the first had. This time it was Emily who was taken away from them and locked alone in the room, her screams filling the air. Those who had been left together did what they could to be good captives, and hopefully lessen the pain that Emily would endure. They sat together, talking about aimless things, anything other than their current situation. For a while they debated what future pets each would have, and what kind of houses they would live in. There was a brief conversation about future children, but the looks on JJ's and Hotch's faces as they thought about their sons upstairs put a quick end to that topic.

"We have a limited amount of time down here, you know."

"What do you mean, Reid?" replied Hotch.

"There's only so many of us. . . And if they take someone new every day then by the time it gets back around the second time we won't last very long." His words silenced them all, as they contemplated the consequences.

"I can't take another day of that. I just can't handle it." whispered JJ, quiet enough that from across the circle Garcia could barely make out her words.

"They'll have the money soon, don't worry. It won't get to that point." Derek tried to assuage their worries, but to no avail.

"Derek! There have been no mysterious phone calls, actually, there have been absolutely _no_ phone calls at all. All that fancy computer equipment on that table? Hasn't been turned on once while we've been here." Spencer paused his rant to take a deep breath. "How could the money possibly be on its way? There hasn't been any sort of contact, and you know as well as I do that by Bureau policy that can't hand over ransom money unless there's proof of life!"

"Spencer, man, calm down. They must be doing the communication while we're out of the room, like last night some time. Look, kid, everyone is already freaked, please don't make it worse." No matter how hard he tried to calm the younger man, Derek could see the turmoil in his eyes, the fear reflected in them.

"I can't take this. . ." murmured Spencer, squeezing his eyes shut against the world. "Too many memories, and no hope."

"You really think Strauss is going to let her best team rot in this basement? All the paperwork she'd have to fill out about our deaths? No way, man, not her." This time, his words drew a smile out of the devastated man.

"You're probably right. I mean, we aren't too far from where we were camping. And if I know Kevin, he's already gone through my computer records so he knows I was researching the forest. They've got to be looking for us around here." Added Garcia, drawing the attention of everyone in the group.

"How do you know that we aren't far?" Inquired Hotch when no one else seemed willing to ask the question.

"When they went around knocking people out, I noticed that it was a different guy than I'd been fighting so I just pretended to be unconscious. They weren't checking too close, they were too busy breaking down our camp and carrying us to the trucks." She answered calmly, trying to keep her voice low and even in case any of the men were listening to this particular conversation.

"How far away are we?" questioned Rossi.

"I'm not sure. I couldn't really tell how long the car ride was. Maybe an hour away max?" She answered apologetically.

"Garcia, you did good. We can't be that hard to find if we're that close." Soothed Derek, leaning into her to show his gratefulness.

"Then why haven't they found us yet? It's been over 24 hours!" The dismal lights in the room started flickering, cutting Garcia's outburst short. They all sat silently, staring at the ceiling, hoping that the lights would stay on, and wouldn't plunge them into darkness.

"Old place, things like this happen." Said one of the men. "Ignore it."

"Okay." Hotch answered for the group, and the man left to go join the others in a card game. For the first time they sat to observe their captors, trying to figure out what kind of people they were. For the duration of the flickering lights, about an hour, the profilers watched the men out of the corners of their eyes, watching their movements. It was Derek who first picked up on it.

"Hey, guys. They're passing something. Watch, the one with the beard has it right now." Even Garcia tuned in to watch the table, noticing how one man would put his hand on the table, or under it, it leave his glass upside down and the next man in the circle would take whatever it was that they were passing. All of the sudden it stopped, and when they looked around to see why, they saw that the man in charge had come out of the room where Emily was.

"What were they passing?"

"I don't know, PG, but whatever it is, they don't want the boss to know." Replied JJ, but she couldn't take her eyes of the door of Emily's room. She alone knew the pain that her brunette counterpart was enduring, and she wished more than anything that none of them were in this situation.

It was Spencer who deduced what the men were passing around the card table.

"Guys, its drugs."

"Spencer, don't think about drugs. This is not Henkle, okay man? There won't be any drugs, you don't have to worry." Spencer's sentence didn't surprise Derek, he knew that the younger man was having as hard of a time with his memories as JJ and Emily were having with their present injuries.

"No, I know that. I mean, what they were passing: its drugs. Look at them! They're acting different, more out of touch with reality." His words spoke the truth, there was a difference in the composure of each man, they all looked as though they could be overpowered by a bunny, except for the guns they clung to.

"We have a chance if they do this regularly, they'll slip up and maybe we can escape." Garcia spoke the thoughts that were on everyone's minds.

"Only if we can get the guns away from them. They might not be able to aim properly, but we don't want anyone getting hurt in random crossfire." Added Hotch.

"The only other problem is the boss, he doesn't partake and it will be difficult to get the upper hand in a fight against him and his gun." Continued Rossi. They bounced around the circle a few times, each of the spewing out ideas on how they might be able to incapacitate their captors, but to no avail. When night came, and darkened their room even further they still had no ideas, and the effects of the drugs were wearing off- they had lost whatever chance they might have had.

"Alright, you know the drill, one at a time, up and into your room." The harsh voice drew them out of their thoughts, mechanically answering his commands. One by one they trooped into the room they'd slept in the night before. When JJ went to follow Rossi, she was stopped.

"You're going with the other one." Was the only explanation she got, and JJ felt her heart soar as she realized that Emily would not have to spend the night alone and in pain as she'd feared. When she entered the small room, slowly, due to her injuries from the previous day, JJ felt the tears slipping down her face again. Emily was curled up into a ball, as though she was trying to protect herself from a new onslaught of pain. When there was none, she risked a glance upwards, and saw JJ. The blond could see the walls going into place in Emily's eyes, and she couldn't bear that thought.

"No, Emily. Stay with me. I know how bad you're hurt, inside and out, but you can't hide away. Please, you didn't let me do that, and I can't let you." she said, lowering herself carefully to the ground. When she didn't get any sort of response, she tried a different tactic. "C'mon, lets compare scars, huh?"

In the dim light of the room, JJ could see the walls crumbling a bit behind Emily's eyes, and she watched as they filled with tears, sobs soon emanating from the older woman. As carefully as she could, for both of their sakes, JJ wrapped her arms around Emily.

"You don't have to be strong all the time, Em, I'm here."

* * *

**What do you think? Review and let me know!**

**Sya  
**


	8. Hope

In the end, it was the boys who saved the day. Once again, they had been allowed to spend the night with their parents, and Jack was semi-conscious when he was delivered to his father.

"Dad?" He said, waking himself up fully.

"Yeah?"

"They leave us alone sometimes, and I don't think the windows are locked. Me 'n Henry, we could probably get out, but it's all trees outside, I don't know where to go." His voice was whiny, like he was scared his father would be mad at him for not taking Henry and leaving already.

"What if we can get someone upstairs?" Mumbled Rossi, trying to make it sound as though he was just talking in his sleep, should one of the men be listening at the door.

"Yeah, man. When they're high, convince 'em to take one of us upstairs and then it'll be easy for them to escape with the boys." Answered Derek, pausing every few seconds in his speech, allowing his voice to sound like sleepy words.

"They haven't let any of us upstairs, how're we going to convince them tomorrow?" Spencer didn't bother to try to disguise his voice as he spoke, earning him shushes from the others.

"Don't lose faith in my chocolate thunder, Reid. He'll think of something." With Garcia's last words the agents tried to get some sleep.

* * *

In the other room, Henry was curling himself in between Emily and JJ, trying to get comfortable on the hard floor.

"Momma!" he cried out, exhausted and unable to get comfortable, the young boy got cranky.

"Shhh, its ok, Henry. Let Momma sleep, I got you." Whispered Emily, reaching her arm around the small figure next to her.

"I want my momma." was the petulant response.

"She's right here, see?" Emily took his little hand, guiding it to his mother's stomach, letting him find her in the dark. "She's just sleeping, which you should be doing."

"I wanna story." Henry lay his head on his mother's chest, but he never let go of Emily's hand, forcing her to shift slowly closer to him, forming a tight circle around the small boy. "Please, Em'ly?"

"There once was a very brave young boy, and his name was Fenry. He lived with his mommy in a wonderful castle, but there were some evil dragons that lived nearby. . ."

* * *

When morning came around again the boys were gone, having been removed from their parents' embraces before dawn had come. Emily woke to the sounds of JJ's tears, her sobbing because of the absence of her son.

"Hey, don't worry about them, the boys are being taken care of." She whispered, trying not to startle the blonde too much.

"I know. . . And I know that I don't want him to see me like this. . . It's just that he just lost his father, and now he can't even see his mother." Emily scooted closer, leaning her shoulder against her friend's, the only comforting gesture she was able to make with her injuries. "I just want my son."

"Sweetie, I know. But we'll get out of here soon. Have hope."

"How can you have hope after all this, Emily?" Her head fell dejectedly onto the brunette's head as she spoke, not even bothering to move the hair that fell in front of her face.

"Hey now," started Emily, brushing the hair behind JJ's ears, "don't you trust us? We'll find a way out. Or Strauss will come rescue us." She was about to continue when the door burst open, one of the men standing in the doorway with his weapon pointed at them.

"Up." He ordered, and they obeyed. When they left the room they could see all of their companions sitting out in the usual circle. Sadly, it was reassuring to know that they had formed routines in captivity. The man who had brought them out of their room announced to the group that today was their day of respite, no one was going to be taken into the other room. Today they'd be all together.

"I wonder what's causing the change." Rossi asked in a hush tone once the man had gone to rejoin his companions.

"Look, there's less of them today. There must be something else going on, maybe they're setting up a drop for the ransom money!"

"Don't get your hopes up Garcia, we know how the Bureau works, and they've sent no proof of life." Spencer's words brought reality back into everyone's world. For a while they sat in silence, each of them leaning on another for support. JJ and Emily were curled up into each other, after spending awhile trying to find a position that wouldn't aggravate their injuries too much. Derek had his hand over Spencer's, trying to offer the other man as much comfort as he could without invading his space. Garcia was leaning against Derek's other side, while talking with Rossi and Hotch about their rescue chances.

* * *

The second sign that this was going to be a good day came right before they were delivered lunch. When two men went upstairs, presumably to make them all food, there were a series of crashes and expletives that could be heard coming from above them. Initially this made the group even more worried, for what if the children had aggravated the men? But quickly the noises died down, and the men returned.

While the group sat in absolute silence, trying to hear the words that were being muttered between the masked men, they couldn't make out any of the words, just a tone of worry. Lunch was eventually brought down, but the atmosphere of the basement had changed, the men in black were worried about something, and that bode well for the captured FBI agents.

* * *

**I know this is very, very overdue, and rather short, so I apologize. University got to kicking my butt, and I lost my motivation for this story. I wanted to get this chapter up even though its a little short just to give you guys something to go on. I'm starting work on the next chapter right now so I don't think it will be too long of a wait this time.**

**Thank you to everyone who is reading this, especially those of you who review it (even though this hadn't been updated in a long time), because you guys are why I'm finally picking this back up again. I only have a few more chapters planned for this story.**

**Sya**


	9. Salvation

"They're using again." Stated Spencer, he had been watching the men very closely, waiting for the drugs to resurface.

"This is our opportunity then." Added Derek, sitting up and forcing Garcia to do the same. Slowly, each member of the team came out of their daze, looking for the signs of drug use in each of the men. Sure enough, each man seemed to be just a little out of it, but not as much as they had been the day before.

"Whatever happened upstairs, it must have made them more cautious, but not enough to stop using the drugs."

"Rossi's right. But it doesn't matter, we can't sit here for much longer and do nothing. This is our time to act." Hotch's words inspired the agents, each of them nodding along. "We need some sort of distraction."

"What if we combine both our plans?" Asked JJ hesitantly.

"What do you mean JJ?" Inquired Hotch, open to suggestions.

"We make a distraction by trying to get them to let one of us upstairs. That way if we succeed, we disarm them down here, and someone is upstairs to help the children."

"Good idea." Responded their boss. "Who do we think can get up there?"

"I can." Emily spoke in a whisper. "All I have to do is pretend that my injuries need some sort of care, they have to have some sort of first aid up there, and if it's bad enough they'll have to take me up there."

"How are we going to fake something big enough for them to take you up there?"

"Maybe we don't have to." She responded, still whispering.

"I don't understand." The confusion was evident on everyone's faces, Hotch spoke for all of them. In response, Emily gently lifted up the bottom hem of her shirt. The group reacted to the sight of her stomach as one, with a large intake of breath.

"What happened, Emily?" JJ was the first to be able to find her voice again. "Why didn't you say something?"

"What would be the point of that? We don't have medical supplies, I didn't want to worry anyone. It's just infected."

"That's not _just_ an infection, Emily!" JJ's shout drew the attention of some of the men, drawing them closer to the group.

"What's wrong with you?" asked one of the men in a gruff voice. When Emily lifted her shirt for the second time, baring the infected cut to the open air once again, the men reacted in the same way as the agents had, one of them even gagged.

"It's got puss, it's a bad infection. It needs medical attention, or it'll get worse." JJ had decided it was go-time, and since it didn't look like Emily was going to be speaking up for herself, she would have to do it.

The men retreated to talk amongst themselves for a bit, a few of them looked like they were emphatic about getting Emily, and her infected laceration, out of the vicinity. Those men won, and a few walked over to escort her out of the basement.

"I guess now is a good time. Wait till Emily is out of here before we do anything." The whisper came out of Rossi right as the captors came over. The remaining agents did they best to try not to appear anxious about what was going to happen, some succeeding more than others. As soon as they heard the door to the basement close, they sprang into action.

Derek and Spencer ran towards two of the men together, aiming first for disarming them before inflicting any pain. Three days in the dark basement had taken their toll on all the agents, causing their movements to be less accurate than they usually would be. However, the drugs had taken their toll on the captors as well. Garcia was doing her best to wrest a gun away from one man, but he wasn't letting go. It took Rossi's help to finally overpower him.

Grunts came from the corner where JJ was taking on a man of her own, and winning. She kept her hands on the gun she confiscated from her enemy, but she couldn't see anywhere to shoot where there wasn't a danger of hitting someone she loved. Instead, when another man rushed at her, she simply used the butt of the gun to knock him out. It looked like they were winning, until the men who had gone upstairs with Emily returned, and shot into the midst of the group. Apparently they didn't mind hitting their own colleagues. JJ was the only one who had kept the gun in her hands, but when she saw the guns against her friends' heads, she had to drop it.

Feeling more desolate than before, they were group together once more in the middle of the room, this time tied together so that one person couldn't move without causing the others discomfort. Derek had been the most unlucky, one of the bullets fired had hit his leg, leaving a deep graze in the side of his left leg. JJ's sweater went to his wound, they attempted to use it to slow the bleeding.

"At least Emily is upstairs?" Garcia spoke into the face of despair, and none of her friends answered her.

* * *

"Alright, everyone put your hands up!" The shout came from the top of the stairs, where the silhouette of a person could be seen. This voice was distinctly female, separating it from the voices of their captors that they had been hearing for the past few days. The response to the announcement was instant. Every head in the room spun to face the stairs, while the men's grips on their weapons became tighter.

"What did I say? Hands in the air!" The men looked at each other, none of them sure what to do. A few of them pointed their guns towards the silhouette, but they changed their minds when more figures started to descend the stairs. So many were coming down that the captors were quickly outnumbered, and they proceeded to lower their guns to the ground.

"Finally you listen." When the original figure finally came down the stairs and into the basement, they were able to use the feeble light to identify their savior- Strauss.

"Are you guys alright?" Murmurs were her only answer, a few called out inquiries about those who were upstairs.

"Derek was shot, and JJ is in bad shape. Emily too, but she was upstairs." Garcia's voice rang out above the others, and immediately drew Strauss' attention. Orders were given, and quickly the captors were brought upstairs while the captives were released.

"Make sure they make it onto the first ambulances." Strauss ordered of the FBI agents who were put in charge of Derek and JJ. "When we get to the hospital, you are all giving me the full story. But let's get you out of here first."

* * *

**Here you go! I haven't started the next chapter yet.. but I will soon. Unbeta'd so all mistakes are mine.**

**Please review!**

**Sya**


End file.
